[Deshrill]

Space Quest: The Sarien Encounter

Although it's been almost ten years since the most recent official Space Quest game (Space Quest VI: Roger Wilco in The Final Frontier), fan games have made the series live on in a sense. While Jeff Stewart's Space Quest 0: Replicated and Vonster's Space Quest: The Lost Chapter remain decent examples of what a fan franchise-inspired title can live up to, I think it's time to take a trip back to 1987, when the original official game in the series was released by two Guys from Andromeda.

In 1991, Sierra On-line released the VGA re-make Space Quest I: Roger Wilco in The Sarien Encounter. The bulk of this review covers the original game, although towards the end their is a synopsis of differences between the two versions. My first experience with this wonderful series of games is from the Space Quest Collector's Edition compilation.

STORY

In SQ1, you play as Roger Wilco, a Custodian on a huge spaceship. When the evil Sarien aliens arrive and murder almost everyone onboard the ship, you have to find a way to escape while trying to retrieve the Star Generator.

The plot of SQ1 is pretty complicated for these early AGI Sierra On-line adventures. There are a few different planets you travel on and the variety of different hilarious deaths Roger Wilco undergoes make it fun to die.

There are some memorable characters and while this doesn't have the best plot in the series (arguably SQ 4 or 5 have the best story out of the SQ series), it's certainly not bad either. Much like Al Lowe's Leisure Suit Larry series, the personality of the designer's shine through in the descriptions of the various planets, aliens, and items you run across in the adventure.

PUZZLES

Like many older adventure games, this one is pretty tricky at parts, particularly in the beginning. The parser is pretty good, but there are some cases in which you are struggling to find what the correct verb is.

You can die easily in the game, although this is especially true in the intro and closing sequences of the game. Some of the puzzles are a bit odd, but it's a more logical game than some others like the infamous Woodruff & The Schnibble.

GRAPHICS

For the time, the graphics in SQ1 are pretty well-done. You get a sense that the different planets that you visit have different color schemes and so forth. The graphics aren't as detailed as in the original LSL or PQ games, but then again we're dealing with science-fiction here.

MUSIC

Despite having PC speaker squawks, the music still manages to have a brass-heavy, epic John Williams tone to it, especially the classic Space Quest Theme. I don't recall there being a lot of music in the game, but I could be wrong about this.

REMAKE

The VGA remake of SQ1 is actually really well done; in fact, it is arguably the best VGA remake that Sierra On-line did of its older adventure games. The graphics have a wonderful retro Flash Gordon feel and the updated music really gives it a more space-opera-ish feel.

The puzzles stay pretty much the same, although what once was a guess the parser puzzle becomes a pixel hunting puzzle on a few occassions. The places where you can die become a bit more frustrating in the VGA version, but the core of the game is the same.

OVERALL

While not being the best game in the series, SQ1 manages to be a really enjoyable entry in the franchise. If you're going to play through this series for the first time or for the twentieth time, you should start with the first one. Later games in the series have ties to the plot in the original (well, actually only the 2nd and 4th ones) and playing this one first will make the series more enjoyable. The VGA remake is also worth searching for.

Although at different points Sierra has cancelled Space Quest 7 (as I recall, they've done this twice, although a trailer for a 3-D SQ 7 exists), perhaps it's for the best. Maybe if the upcoming LSL game sells well, Sierra will resurrect it's older franchise and possibly give them the respect they deserve.